{"id":186928,"date":"2025-07-22T07:10:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T07:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/186928\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T07:10:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T07:10:12","slug":"nba-legend-damian-lillard-reveals-why-trade-with-portland-trail-blazers-was-easier-than-expected-nba-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/186928\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA legend Damian Lillard reveals why trade with Portland Trail Blazers was easier than expected | NBA News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NBADamian Lillard. Image via: Getty Images After a gut-wrenching Achilles injury that kept him out of almost every match, Damian Lillard was recently signed in for a blockbuster trade. Yes, that\u2019s correct, a three-year $42 million trade with the NBA\u2019s one of the finest teams, the Portland Trail Blazers. Although there is a whole different theory about why this NBA legend wanted to return to his home, he has something else to say. Damian Lillard is a family man, and the only team that could take him at this point was the Portland Trail Blazers. The now-Trail Blazers star has scored some amazing points while he was playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. However, due to a dreadful injury, he couldn\u2019t play the rest of the games. Here\u2019s what the former Bucks player has to say: <\/p>\n

Damian Lillard revealed that signing with Portland Trail Blazers was a no-brainer<\/p>\n

The Portland Trail Blazers have traded the former Milwaukee Bucks star, Damian Lillard, under a three-year, $42 million contract. He is expected to miss out on the entire 2025-26 season due to his left leg Achilles injury. But that doesn\u2019t seem to stop this NBA star, as now he has returned to his home. With this homecoming, fans are expecting him to make an extraordinary comeback. \u201cUsually when I have to make a decision, I put a lot of thought into it. I ask a lot of questions to the people around me, but this was a decision that wasn\u2019t hard at all for me to make\u2026 I\u2019m just thankful to be back, and it just feels like the perfect situation at the perfect time. I\u2019m just happy to be back\u201d, said Damian Lillard to the press on Monday. <\/p>\n

Damian Lillard was traded to Portland Trail Blazers after spending two years with Milwaukee Bucks<\/p>\n

After playing 11 seasons with the Trail Blazers, the team traded this 35-year-old to the Milwaukee Bucks, ending his first stint in Rip City. However, within two years after a disappointing end with the Bucks, it was now time for the NBA star to move back home and be with his family. Damian Lillard has averaged 24.6 points, 7.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds in 131 games for the Milwaukee Bucks in his career. He only ever wanted to return to the Bucks, given the fact that he is a family man and wanted to be close to his kids.<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Senior NBA Insider Shams Charania revealed why Damian Lillard wanted to return to Portland Trail Blazers<\/p>\n

Shams Charania revealed the main reason for Damian Lillard\u2019s motivation towards joining the Portland Trail Blazers. \u201cBeing home in Portland, being back with his three kids, was by far the biggest, most important factor in Damian Lillard returning to re-sign with the Portland Trail Blazers. He was going to spend the year rehabbing his Achilles tear in the Portland area anyway. So, returning to the Blazers franchise, even though he requested a trade just two years ago, was something he deeply cared about\u201d, said Shams Charania. With Damian Lillard back to his home team, fans await his fast recovery and major comeback, probably the season following the next. <\/p>\n

FAQs<\/p>\n

For how many years did Damian Lillard play with the Milwaukee Bucks?<\/p>\n

NBA legend Damian Lillard played for two years with the Milwaukee Bucks until he was traded back to the Portland Trail Blazers<\/p>\n

What is Damian Lillard\u2019s injury all about?<\/p>\n

Damian Lillard had a major left leg injury that tore his achilles muscle in Game 4 of the NBA Finals 2025.<\/p>\n

What were Damian Lillard\u2019s achievements during his time with the Bucks?<\/p>\n

Damian Lillard was named an All-Star Game MVP in 2024 and won the inaugural NBA in-season tournament. Also read: Damian Lillard Reveals True Feelings On His Achilles Tear<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Damian Lillard. Image via: Getty Images After a gut-wrenching Achilles injury that kept him out of almost every…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3775],"tags":[7,103,125,33607,33608,102,121,3871,6,33609,33606,471,33610],"class_list":{"0":"post-186928","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-milwaukee-bucks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bucks","10":"tag-damian-lillard","11":"tag-damian-lillard-trade","12":"tag-lillards-achievements","13":"tag-milwaukee","14":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","15":"tag-milwaukeebucks","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-nba-legend-return","18":"tag-nba-star-comeback","19":"tag-portland-trail-blazers","20":"tag-trade-news-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114895639305674819","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}